What did you want to be when you were a kid? I bet people asked you many times. Most of us had different answers depending on our age.

I remember some of the things wanted to be: a kindergarten teacher, a politician and a translator. All depending on the age I was when you asked me. I think the translator is probably the closest thing to what I do now – helping people translate their dreams and transition into something new.

The reason for this weeks’ topic is that I recently came across an outstanding TED talk video called “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch. It’s over an hour long, but it’s an extraordinary one, so make the time to watch or just listen to it at some point. When delivering this talk, Randy only has months left to live due to pancreatic cancer, but that’s not the core of his talk at all. It’s about what you do and who you are being to honor the things you dreamed of as a child. And it’s incredibly playful. He passed away in 2008, but his legacy and story is well worth sharing. (If you only have time for the short version, you can check out the 3 minute video here.)

When we get stuck in life, we often start looping in un-resourceful thinking about what’s possible and not. Randy’s lecture might help you get out of the funk and start seeing options. To honor the thinking, creativity and ability to dream big that you had as a kid.

Some of the key things in his talk that resonated with me were:

“You’ve got to get the fundamentals down“. Stay grounded and make sure to stay true to you and your basic needs, especially if you’re taking on new and scary things.

“The brick walls are there to stop people who don’t want it badly enough“. This one really resonated with me! The brickwalls are there for a reason. The brickwalls are there not to keep us out. The brickwalls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.

“Be good at something; it makes you valuable“. Everyone has a set of skills that makes them unique, but most of us don’t know how to leverage this. I love unpacking this with my clients, because every single person in this world have true value to add.

“Be prepared: “luck” is where preparation meets opportunity“. I often talk about this as a sports analogy. You don’t know if you’ll win the race, but if you train and prepare you have given yourself the best chance. This also gives you a much better chance of welcoming the power of luck and timing.

“Help others“. Simple. Your dreams will be taken care of if you help others (directly or indirectly). No man (or woman) is an island and our purpose is ALWAYS bigger than just us.